A gigantic cosmic bubble

Measuring more than 300 000 light-years across, three times the diameter of the Milky Way, this colourful bubble of ionised gas is the biggest to ever have been discovered. The enormous bubble contains 10 individual galaxies and is situated in a particularly dense region of a galaxy group called COSMOS-Gr30, 6.5 billion light-years away from Earth. Targeted due to its high density of galaxies, this group is extremely varied — some galaxies are actively forming stars while others are passive; some are bright while others are dim; some are massive and others are tiny.

This record-breaking bubble was discovered and studied in detail thanks to the incredible sensitivity of the MUSE instrument, mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Operating in visible wavelengths, MUSE combines the capabilities of an imaging device with the measuring capacity of a spectrograph, creating a unique and powerful tool that can shed light on cosmological objects that would otherwise remain in the dark.

MUSE’s powerful eye on the sky has allowed astronomers to understand that this large pocket of gas is not pristine, but was expelled from galaxies either during violent interactions or by superwinds driven by active black holes and supernovae. They also studied how this magnificent bubble became ionised. It is believed that the gas in the upper area (shown in blue) was ionised by intense electromagnetic radiation from newborn stars and shock waves stemming from galactic activity. Astronomers suspect that the violent red active galactic nucleus towards the lower left of the image could have ripped the electrons from their atoms.

Links

Credit:

ESO/T. Contini (IRAP, Toulouse), B. Epinat (LAM, Marseille)

About the Image

Id:potw1746a
Release date:13 November 2017, 06:00
Size:1575 x 1575 px

About the Object

Name:COSMOS-Gr30
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy
Distance:6 billion light years
Constellation:Sextans
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
734.0 KB
Screensize JPEG
279.1 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
254.7 KB
1280x1024
418.9 KB
1600x1200
551.5 KB
1920x1200
626.8 KB
2048x1536
841.8 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):10 0 35.17
Position (Dec):2° 3' 50.22"
Field of view:0.79 x 0.79 arcminutes
Orientation:North is -0.0° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
OII
372 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
V
606 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
H-beta
486 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
I
814 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
OIII
500 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE